my brother and sister-in-law have 3 children - owen (7), miles (5), and leta (1) - all of whom were adopted at birth.

i got a voicemail from my nephew yesterday. at first it seemed an innocent message.

5-year-old miles wanted to recount for me (with his mom's help) the story of his adoption:

"you came to see me at the hospital."
(whisper whisper whisper).
"and you and mommy and daddy drove straight through the night. to see me."
(whisper whisper).
"owen played with your hair."
(whisper).
"and you fell asleep."
"but mommy and daddy drove straight through the night. to see me."
(whisper).
"at the hospital."

i got a little choked up thinking about that nerve-wracking drive. my sister-in-law received a phone call late in the evening saying that the biological mother had given birth to a healthy boy, and was wavering about the adoption. you better get here quick, was the message. so with my brother and his wife, we packed the essentials, carseated toddler owen, and started on the 10-hour drive. it had been a long and exhausting couple of weeks, and we contemplated stopping for a few hours of rest. then we got another call. she wants to go through with the adoption, but if she stays with him much longer, it'll be too hard. please hurry. so we did.

in the midst of my reverie, the real purpose in miles' call came through.

"you came to the hospital. to see me."
"but you did not for leta...right?"
(yes! she did!)
"NO!"
click.

i laughed out loud.
it's hard being de-throned by a younger sibling. especially a girl.